Imperativo: Clitic Attachment Rules

The imperativo is the place in Italian grammar where clitic pronoun placement gets weird. In every other tense, clitics live in front of the verb in a fixed position: mi parla, ti scrivo, lo vedo. With the imperativo, that pattern breaks. Some forms attach clitics to the end of the verb, some keep them in front, the negative tu has two allowed positions, and one tiny set of imperatives even doubles a consonant when a clitic is added — giving you forms like dammi, fammi, dimmi.

This page lays out the four rules that cover every case. Once you internalize them, clitic placement with the imperative becomes mechanical.

Rule 1 — tu, noi, voi affirmative: clitic ATTACHES to the end

With the three "informal" or non-formal imperatives — tu, noi, voi — clitic pronouns are enclitic: they attach to the end of the verb and are written as a single word. Always one word, no hyphen, no space.

When two clitics combine (the so-called combined or "double" clitics — me lo, te la, glielo, ce ne, etc.), the entire combined sequence attaches as a single chunk: diccelo (= di' + ce + lo, "tell us about it"), andiamocene (= andiamo + ce + ne, "let's get out of here"), daglielo (= da' + gli + lo, "give it to him").

Rule 2 — Lei, Loro formal: clitic PRECEDES the verb

The formal singular Lei and the formal plural Loro behave like every other non-imperative tense in Italian: clitics go in front of the verb as separate words. They never attach as enclitics.

This makes intuitive sense once you remember that the formal Lei and Loro imperatives are borrowed from the present subjunctive, and clitics behave normally with the subjunctive (spero che mi dica la verità, "I hope she tells me the truth"). They are imperatives in function, but subjunctives in form — including in their clitic behavior.

Rule 3 — Negative tu: two positions, both correct

The negative tu imperative is morphologically non + infinitive — non parlare, non mangiare, non venire. With clitics, this opens up two equally grammatical placements:

Modern preference (more common): clitic attaches to the end of the infinitive (with the final -e of the infinitive optionally dropped):

Non parlarmi così. / Non parlargli ancora di quello.

Older / equally correct: clitic precedes the whole non + infinitive construction:

Non mi parlare così. / Non gli parlare ancora di quello.

Both are correct, both are heard, and individual speakers swing between the two. The attached version is a bit more colloquial and slightly more frequent in modern speech; the preposed version is unmarked in writing and slightly more frequent with reflexives. Either is fine; pick one and don't agonize.

For the full treatment of negative tu, see the negative tu imperative.

Rule 4 — The doubling rule: dammi, fammi, dimmi, vacci, stammi

This is the rule everyone remembers, partly because it produces some of the most distinctive-looking words in Italian. The five monosyllabic tu imperatives — va', da', fa', di', sta' (the apostrophized short forms of vai, dai, fai, dici, stai) — double the initial consonant of any single-syllable clitic that attaches to them.

The doubling carries through into double-clitic combinations as well: dammelo (give it to me), daccela (give it to us, fem.), daccele (give them to us, fem. plural), fammelo sapere (let me know), diccelo (tell us about it).

The one exception: gli does NOT double

The clitic gli (to him / to them) is the lone exception. Despite starting with a single consonant on the page, gl- does not double after the short imperatives. So you write vagli, dagli, fagli, digli, stagli — single g, no doubling.

This exception is sometimes explained by the fact that gl- in gli represents a single phoneme (a palatalized sound, /ʎ/), not a sequence of two consonants — so there is nothing to double. Whatever the historical reason, the rule is reliable: gli never doubles.

Quick reference: the four rules in one place

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

Four rules cover every clitic placement with the imperative:

1. tu / noi / voi affirmative → attached (parlami, parliamone, scrivetele).
2. Lei / Loro formal → preposed (mi dica, si accomodino).
3. Negative tu → either (non parlarmi or non mi parlare).
4. Short tu imperatives + clitic → consonant doubling, except gli which never doubles (dammi, dimmi, vacci, fammi, stammi — but: dagli, digli, vagli).

Once these four rules are automatic, you can produce and understand any imperative + clitic combination in Italian without thinking. For the broader system, see the imperative overview; for an end-to-end paradigm with all five persons, see the complete imperative reference.